Indian Accessories

Saris have always been a passion for Indian women. It had never lost its charm and attraction over centuries. Fashion may come and go, but saris never change, but only gain modifications with the changing times and trends.

Indian women in the past centuries used to wear only ordinary plain saris with fabrics more or less the same and hardly any designs on them. But today’s sari evolved to various fine fabrics with delicate designs and embroidery works. There are saris embellished with semi-precious stones and embroidery works done with expensive gold and silver threads. Certain costly saris contain even lavish zari work. Saris decorated with various colored beads and simple embroidery works are also available in the market.
The accessories that you need with a sari are a matching blouse or choli and a petticoat. While petticoat is completely hidden by the sari, many parts of the blouse are visible. The blouse could be full-sleeved, half-sleeved, quarter sleeved or even sleeveless. The perfect blouse that goes very well with the modern sari is one that is silky and flowing, embellished with mirror work, embroidery work, semi-precious stones or beads. The blouse also has undergone a series of changes and modifications. Today’s blouse looks exquisitely fabulous and highlights the elegance and beauty of the sari.
Indian women consider sari as the most suitable costume for occasions like marriages, festivals etc. But in recent times women through out the world consider sari as part of a growing trend. Many women wear gorgeous saris while going to parties. You might have seen women celebrities in colorful enchanting saris attending various functions on TV screens and in magazines. Some women, other than Indians, wear sari on a daily basis. You can also see women belonging to other cultures and religions in the world draped in sari. Muslim ladies use saris, but instead of draping it over the shoulder they cover their head with it. An outfit having such a worldwide popularity cannot be considered as a mere piece of cloth.
There is a large variety of saris to adorn the multicultural society of India. The style and texture of the saris are different from east to west and north to south. The latest trendy saris give the wearer a magnetic grace and attraction. You can see femininity in its fullness in the saris. A woman looks modest and coy in a sari when it covers her body from head to toe. But when it is worn with an attractive blouse having the pallu slightly shifted the sari becomes as glamorous as any modern western dress. Sari is an outfit worn by women all over India, irrespective of caste, creed or religion. The style of draping of sari might differ from one state to another; this traditional simple cloth of 5.5 meters or 6 yards and at times 9 yards long, has already secured a place in the fashion world.

India offers a wide variety of affordable saris that provide the similar looks and elegance as their counterparts, the expensive ones. They are available in various materials, eye catching designs and vibrant colors. Almost all Indian textile showrooms are flooded with these affordable saris and make a good profit in the sales of these saris.
Brasso saris, in various colors like hot pink, elegant black and blood red are available in different customized designs and patterns. These most sought after saris look very beautiful and attractive and are perfect for summer wear, ideal for daily use and special occasions as well. Crisp printed saris and printed delicate synthetic ones having a mass appeal add elegance and simplicity to a woman’s looks. These printed saris are available in various exotic prints, patterns and shades. Long lasting designer silk saris, another affordable sari, are coming in various patterns or as plain. These saris look fabulous either with a plain body having enchanting patterns on the border or with beautiful and colorful prints and patterns all over the body. Such saris last long since fast colors are used for dying them.
Cotton silk saris are created by blending pure cotton and silk in the right proportion. These saris have a soft touch, at the same time are firm too. The cotton silk saris are sold out in a large variety of prints and patterns and also as plain ones. The traditional cheap-rated handloom saris are woven by hand using hand-spun yarn. The handloom khadi cotton is woven in such a way that the interlacing of threads provides maximum passage of air, causing cooling effect on the body, making it suitable for summer days. Soft and glossy handloom silk saris are also available at slightly higher rates.
Automatic Saris: Traditional sari, worn by Indian women, is a 5–5.5 meters long light material that in draped around the body. But draping the sari is a time consuming art that needs to be mastered in order to justify the elegance of that costume. Especially for a beginner who finds it difficult to drape the sari in the stylish and elegant form, automatic sari offers a perfect solution with its simple ready- to-wear feature. This ready made outfit with its pre-stitched pleats could be worn just like a skirt and the wearer has to drape the loose end over the shoulder, taking approximately 15 minutes to slip into it.
These automatic saris are a boon to those who have no knowledge how to drape it. This category includes foreign ladies or Anglo-Indians settled outside India, employed women who love to wear sari but face time constraints and any woman who has a passion for Indian fashion. The stitching of the sari is so perfect that you cannot distinguish between a normal sari and an automatic one when it is worn. The blouse should be worn separately and most automatic saris require a petticoat. But a few saris, depending on the fabric used, may not need a petticoat.

Special mention should be made on certain Indian saris for their quality, aesthetic looks and decorations.
Baluchari saris: A wonder from West Bengal Baluchari sari is loved by almost all Indian women.

These saris are famous for their alluring designs in silk threads all over the body with the ‘aanchal’ or the flowing end depicting mythological characters or romantic scenes—recapturing moments from the past in an artistic way—and for the enticing contrasting colors.
But to achieve this magic piece several months of hardwork and designing are required. Designer needs five to six months just to design costing $250-375. Two types of silk threads are brought from two different parts of India-Bangalore in the south and West Bengal in the east- for weaving, one vertically and the other horizontally. It needs extra skills and long experience to weave Baluchari saris. This wonderful art is facing extinction for want of proper infrastructure and financial aid.

Kota Saris: The famous Kota Doria saris are made in small villages around the Kota city in the Rajasthan State, India. Kota Doria is a super thin, but stable cotton or cotton silk weave consisting yarn of various thickness. These yarns are woven in such a way that they give a graph like pattern called khats, squares formed by the fibers of different thicknesses. The intermittent thick yarns give the weave sufficient weight and lateral stability, yet the material is unbelievably airy and very transparent. Usually Kota saris are suited to be worn in hot summers.

The saris made of the Kota doria are the finest in India. The fact that they are almost weightless shows how fine the saris are. The spinning, dying and weaving are very complicated works and can be done only by very skilled and experienced hands. They take several days to complete the works. The Kota sari looks exquisite in its perfection. The saris made of Kota doria fabric is very unique with the warp and the weft using a combination of threads forming a superfine chequered pattern where the cotton and silk provide the stability and the shining finish to the fabric respectively. Kota saris are available in other complicated designs in a combination of silk and cotton as well. This art form also is challenged by technically advanced power looms.

Gadwal Saris: Gadwal sari, produced in a small town Gadwal at a distance of 150 km from Hyderabad, is an example of the marvelous textile-craft of Andhra Pradesh in India. This sari clearly exhibits the superfine blending of traditional and modern designing concepts. The main characteristic feature of Godwal sari is that its body is made up of fine cotton with borders and pallu created with pure silk.

An interlocked woof art, locally known as Kupadam, is the traditional technique used to weave these saris. The border of the sari is composed of tusser or mulberry silk and the cotton body has resplendent colors, mostly decorated with silk checks. Sico sari, the latest trend, is a fabulous blend of 50% cotton and 50% silk. The expensive Gadwal pure silk sari is not as popular as the Sico.
The South Indian traditional designs, like peacock, rudraksha etc are woven into the saris. The silk is brought from Bangalore for making the sari and the zari, gold and silver threads used to give the sari an ornate look come from Surat. This magnificent sari attracts not only Indians, but buyers from all over the world.

The Indian saris in Cotton are the most popular and favored for all sections and classes of women. Cotton sari is light-weight and very cool to wear, especially during hot summer. These saris could be worn on festival days and also as daily wear.

You can see office-going women, school and college teachers, lady doctors and home makers wearing cotton saris in various designs and vibrant colors. These saris are ideal for every day purposes and can be easily washed and pressed.
In India cotton grows abundantly. The art of weaving and dying of cotton started in India several years back, about 5000 years ago. Each of the Indian state has its own traditional way of weaving cotton and own special features in cotton fabric. Also each state differs in weaves, texture, printing methods or techniques, embellishments and colors. All the cotton saris are available in different attractive prints, various colors and charming designs. Saris made of pure cotton have a separate wide market during summer seasons.
Some of the popular cotton saris are as follows:
Jamdani cotton saris with traditional patterns come from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Sambalpuri, Bomkai and Vichitrapuri, saris of Orissa, are available in various colors and traditional adornments. Madhya Pradesh produces the fine cotton Chanderi Saris that have a silk warp and cotton weft. Maheswari saris, also from Madhya Pradesh, come in pure cotton or cotton/silk blend with exquisite check patterns. The famous Hyderabadi Venkatagiri fine cotton saris mostly in off-white color are adorned with dull golden motifs. Nander, another Andhra Pradesh cotton sari has extensive golden thread work and silk border. Pochampalli saris, also weaved in Andhra Pradesh, come in Ikat patterns, i.e. the yarn is dyed based on pattern before weaving.
In Tamil Nadu, the centers like Kanjeevaram, Salem, Pudukottai and Madurai produce fine cotton saris with motifs and check patterns and the border and the pallu are decorated with thread or zari work. Besides, Kerala special karalkudi saris, tie and dye saris from Rajasthan and Gujarat, Ikat saris of Karnataka and the Narayanpet saris of Andhra Pradesh are also famous for their quality and workmanship. Then there are handloom khadi cotton saris woven by hand with handspun yarn. Cotton sari collection includes printed cotton saris, saris with embroidery and zari work, traditional and contemporary saris for middle and old-aged women and trendy saris for the young.
Cotton saris are usually very affordable; the variation in the prices depends upon the quality of the cotton materials used and the decorative works done on them. A lady looks elegant, sophisticated, graceful and feminine in cotton saris.